What Rutu Mody-Kamdar teaches about privacy-first marketing

And what we're really trying to showcase in that study is the fact that India is evolving and the women in India are emerging out of the predefined conventional archetypes or the stereotypes that we've defined them as. Prutu, I'm going to put you on the hot seat immediately. I know you consult with brands and I know you're very passionate about building consumer-centric brands and you also do some great research. What's missing? What's the piece that you find brands need the most from you or in general you feel brands should be doing more of?

So Ramit, essentially I run a consumer-focused brand consultancy and one of the things that I really feel is that the India story is sold, right? Everyone talks about the fact that India is the most attractive market to come into a billion-plus people, a heterogeneous consumer base, a young population and all of that. But you know, not a single Indian brand features among the top 100 brands in the world. And I always ask this question of why is it that we don't have a single brand out there which is the most loved and the most trusted brand.

And it's surprising because the fact of the matter is that as Indians, we are a deeply emotive race. We fall in love so easily. Look at the love that we fall in with our film stars or for that matter politicians or gods, religions. We are such a passionate race. And we kind of get moved very easily with these inanimate concepts and objects also. But we don't fall in love with brands. We don't have the same kind of attachment with brands. And why is that so? You know, what is it that's kind of missing in that piece with regards to

why don't we look at brands in the same way as we look at all the other things? And I kind of feel that it's because of the way in which we as Indians look at brands. I mean, you know, we're too hard pressed on the functionalities. We're too business led. We don't have brands leading business. We have business leading brands. And I think that's the piece that's kind of missing in this entire thing. It's this deep, strong understanding of consumers and the kind of experiences that they go through.

You know, kind of putting the data aside and saying that, yes, it's an attractive market to be with. But more than the fact that it's an attractive market really, what is it that drives that consumer? That's the piece that's missing. Fantastic. And you bring that to the table. And that's a story. But tell me, you know, on the piece of insight, I know that you've recently done a white paper on women and the nine archetypes for women in India. And you've been a very passionate believer of marketeers not doing justice, lazy stereotyping,

not sort of doing enough insight mining, being very conventional in their approach to marketing to women. Tell us something about this study and tell us what it is that we can pick from it. Okay. So as a company, as a consultancy, we do a lot of white paperwork because we kind of feel that it's our responsibility to bring to marketeers, advertisers, society as a whole, a lot of insights that actually come from our experiences on the field. One of the studies like that that we've done is with women.

And it got published, in fact, in the form of the nine avatars of the Indian woman. And what we're really trying to showcase in that study is the fact that India is evolving. Sure. And the women in India are emerging out of the predefined conventional archetypes or the stereotypes that we've defined them as. And as marketers, we need to sit up and take notice of those many new revolutions that are taking place in the country. Unfortunately, we still perpetuate these conventions. Unfortunately, we still misrepresent them.

And a lot of women don't feel that they're adequately understood. So, you know, the women's study is one way for us to have kind of brought this out into the light and said that, you know, this is the mirror of the new India that is emerging. And it's women need to be represented in a better way. So that's what this study is about. Interesting. You know, you've been part of the academia. In fact, I first met you as a fellow professor many, many years ago. And you've been a consultant.

You've also been a brand builder in some ways, building your own brands. Where are the parallels? What do you bring from the academic world, the consulting world, the real world? How do the three meet? I've never seen really any boundaries in the academic world, the consulting world, the real world. It's all pretty much the same stuff, you know. And I think branding is a field which has so much of a human side to it. It's such a human subject. It's to do with emotions. It's to do with behavior. It's to do with purpose. It's to do with soul.

I think it's something that pervades almost every sphere of life. So I've not really kind of seen any boundaries between that. Yes, in the academic space, you know, there are a lot of theories and constructs that we teach in the classroom. And in the consulting space, we bring a lot of those, you know, to add the rigor to the consulting work that we do. So it's a pretty good synergy that I feel that it's a good balance. And I kind of like to keep my feet in two places because it helps both spaces equally.